A fifth person has tested positive for monkeypox in New York City, local health authorities announced on Thursday, saying “we are monitoring the situation and will investigate any other suspected cases”.
This positive test was revealed the same day the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that there have been a total of 21 confirmed monkeypox cases across the US in 2022.
As of late Thursday afternoon, the CDC reported there were 790 confirmed cases in 28 countries. These monkeypox cases have emerged as the world continues to reel from the Covid-19 pandemic, which has killed more than 6 million globally, with 1 million fatalities in the US since 2020, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
New York City health authorities have noted that the likelihood of contracting monkeypox remains low, but that protective actions could be taken. “Monkeypox is rare in New York City but we can prevent the spread,” the health department said.
Health officials noted that monkeypox is spread through “direct contact” with an infected animal or person, and that human-to-human spread is unlikely, usually taking place due to “open sores, body fluids or large respiratory droplets”. Sexual activity and talking closely are among the ways monkeypox might be transmitted, they said.
The means of preventing monkeypox are similar to protective measures against Covid-19, such as masking around others and washing hands, as well as avoiding contact with people who might have monkeypox, officials said.
Rosamund Lewis, the World Health Organization’s monkeypox technical lead, has said it is unclear how long the virus has proliferated outside the several African countries where it’s endemic. “We don’t really know whether it’s too late to contain,” Lewis said, according to CNBC. “What the WHO and all member states are trying to do is prevent onward spread.”
Several public health experts told the Guardian that monkeypox is not poised to become a pandemic like Covid, given the virus’s characteristics.
“It’s a slower-moving picture than we see with Covid. First of all, the incubation period is longer, time between generations is greater,” said Brian Labus, an epidemiologist and assistant professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, School of Public Health. “Second, it doesn’t spread as easily and third, we don’t see asymptomatic cases. With Covid, that’s always the challenge – you have people who are spreading it and don’t even know it.
“If you get infected, you get the disease,” Labus said. “We’re talking about an illness that causes a problem with your skin. It’s a pox virus. It causes pustules on your skin.”
Jessica Justman, associate professor of medicine in epidemiology at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, said: “My own stance in all of this is: I’m paying attention, and I think that’s what I would communicate to others – I certainly don’t think we need to panic.”
Justman noted that epidemiologists and other public health professionals had an understanding of monkeypox, including their experience studying the virus in countries where it is endemic. “It does not cause enormous numbers of disease there,” Justman said.
And while many fewer people are vaccinated against smallpox than in years prior, large numbers of older adults were vaccinated, which may convey some protection against monkeypox, Justman explained.
“I wouldn’t put it in the category that we should all be actively worried about this,” Justman also said, adding, “Let’s all pay attention and see how this is evolving.”